Health

Monkeypox Declared An International Health Emergency By The WHO

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2022

(CTN News) – Monkeypox has been declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The decision was announced Saturday morning after WHO’s emergency committee convened on Thursday.

On Saturday morning, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the global monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency.

While the committee was unable to reach a consensus, Tedros decided to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after considering all five elements.

When he declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, he noted that monkeypox is mostly affecting men with sex with other men, particularly those with multiple partners, which means that the right strategies in the right places will be able to stop this outbreak.

Following its first meeting on June 23, the WHO declined to declare monkeypox an emergency of international concern.

In his statement at the time, Tedros said the emergency committee advised that, at the time, it did not constitute a public health emergency of international concern, but noted that the “evolving health threat” would be closely monitored by WHO.

As defined by WHO, a public health emergency of international concern is an “extraordinary event” that poses a “public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease” and that may require a coordinated international response.

An emergency committee was formed at the organization in late June to address monkeypox. Its members expressed serious concerns about the outbreak’s scale and speed, but did not consider it a PHEIC. According to Tedros, the committee reconvened to provide the most recent information.

From the 2005 International Health Regulations, PHEIC is derived. A global agreement aimed at preventing and responding to public health risks that can spread around the globe.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the regulations as a “legally binding agreement between 196 countries to build the capability to detect and report potential public health incidents worldwide.”.

Polio, which began in 2014, and Covid-19, which began in 2020, are ongoing public health emergencies.

The Zika virus was declared in 2016 as a PHEIC, and H1N1 influenza was declared in 2009 and 2010.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are currently over 2,800 monkeypox cases in 44 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. More than 16,500 cases have been reported in 74 countries worldwide.

Symptoms of monkeypox are similar to those of smallpox, but they are less severe:

Initial Symptoms

Fever and Headache
Sore Throat and Cough
Back Pain and Muscle
Lack of Energy
Swollen Lymph Nodes in The Neck, Armpits or Groin

A monkeypox infection is much less severe than smallpox, which has been eradicated. West and Central Africa are endemic for the disease, which is usually contracted from rodents or small mammals.

Contact with contaminated clothing, bedding, or body fluids can spread the monkeypox virus. According to the CDC, it can also be transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets.

The risk of infection is high for people who have had contact with someone with a monkeypox-like rash or someone with a probable or confirmed case of monkeypox.

Public health officials are focusing on prevention efforts targeting men who have sex with men this year due to the large number of cases this year.

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